Heart Behind Bars
by EnchantedSailorBella
Summary: Valentines Present to my fans.  Edward's losing the love of his life and his daughter.  How far is he willing to go to keep them?


To all of you who are happily in a relationship, I send you my congratulations.

But to those of us who are still single, this is our year. Baby, you're a firework.

* * *

Edward paced the floor of his Chicago apartment back and forth for what seemed like a century trying to come to terms with what was happening.

Bella was moving away for her job. Bella was moving away and taking their daughter, Nessie with her.

"NO!" Edward's pacing stopped abruptly as he came to the window overlooking the street. Down below were hundreds of people getting their happily ever after, and he'd been too stupid to grab his when it was right in front of him. But he wasn't going down without a fight. Bella was meant to be with him, and he wasn't letting her go again. Not when they could have everything together.

Edward rushed from his apartment and down the stairs, too antsy to stop and wait for the elevator. He'd barely made it to the parking garage before he was speeding off in his Volvo that he'd bought specifically for it's high safety ratings and roomy backseat for the him to put little Nessie's car seat in. He growled at yet one more reminder at how close he had been, and realizing that all he'd had to do was tell her that he wanted her to stay, and she would have done it.

_Bella looked up into Edward's eyes, dark brown misted over with emotion. "Edward, the publishing company wants to give me a promotion."_

_Edward smiled, because this was great news. He was so proud of Bella. She had worked so hard for this. She'd started out as nothing more than an office assistant, and here she was, as an editor, getting a higher position. "That's amazing, Bella."_

_Bella nodded and looked away from him, out the window to the right. "It's a really great opportunity. It would mean a pay raise, and a real house for Nessie to grow up in, with a real backyard and everything."_

_Edward took her shoulders and bent down so he was on eye level with her. "Why aren't you more excited about this?"_

_She sniffled, a tear finally making its way from her eye, "I'd have to move to Washington."_

_The pain that spliced through Edward's heart almost brought him to his knees. As it was, his knees wobbled in an unhealthy way. He held the tight smile on his face in hopes that she wouldn't see how much it was hurting him. "Do you not like Washington?"_

_Bella's gasp alerted him to the fact that he'd said the wrong thing. She took a couple of steps back as her face hardened slightly. But Edward wasn't a fool. She couldn't hide what her eyes were telling him. She didn't want this. She wanted to stay. "No, actually I quite like Washington. Especially the town that we're moving to. It's quiet and small, and will be a great place for Nessie to grow up."_

_Edward's hands clenched, "You're taking Renesme?"_

_Bella nodded, "My mom's already packing her things. They're going to go a few days earlier while I get my affairs settled down here. And then I'm going to join them."_

_The heart that Edward didn't think could break anymore squeezed painfully. "Weren't you even going to let me say goodbye to my own daughter?"_

_Bella choked slightly on the words she couldn't say. She wanted to tell him that he shouldn't have had to say goodbye to his daughter. He should have wanted them to stay. "They're leaving tomorrow. You can come take her and have her for the night. I know it's not a lot of time, but the company wants me there by the end of the week or they give the job to someone else and I'll be stuck here."_

_Stuck. The word hurt because she wasn't just saying stuck with a job that wouldn't as fulfilling as the one in Washington, she'd be stuck with him. In a relationship that never seemed to happen at the right time. Even with a baby girl between them who they both adored, they couldn't seem to make it work. Edward nodded, "I'll be by in a few minutes."_

_Bella's face collapsed as she realized that he was really saying goodbye, that he was really letting her go. She ran for the door, hand over her mouth as she tried to stifle the sobs that ripped from her chest. The man she loved, the only person in the world that could have prevented her from doing this, was telling her goodbye._

_Edward sank down into the chair facing the door. Bella hadn't bothered to shut it as she'd run. How was he going to live without her?_

He wasn't. The timing may never have been right before, but that didn't mean that they weren't right for each other. Bella had always been his other half, his better half, and he wasn't going to let her get away from him. He wasn't going to let her take away his daughter. And he most definitely wasn't going to let either of them throw away this last chance they had to be together.

Edward reached the airport in record time. He parked his car on the curb, not caring if it got towed. He'd find another way home. His car wasn't important right now. He rushed past the ticket desks and right up to security.

"Excuse me sir," a plump woman sitting at a podium grabbed for him, but he shook her off. He jumped over the conveyerbelts where people put their bags to be x-rayed and began to run for the gate area. He needed to find Bella.

"Hey!" a deep voice yelled out loudly from behind him, but he completely ignored it. He needed to find Bella.

"Oof," Edward went down hard with a police officer on top of him.

"Sir, I am going to have to take you in." The officer said as he pulled Edward's hands behind his back.

"What?" Edward's heart began to beat in his chest erratically. Bella was so close, he could feel it. She was just in one of those gates. Edward struggled to get up and away from the officer but it was useless. "Please, you have to let me go. The woman I love is in there. She's leaving me and taking our daughter with her. I can't let her go. Please, you just have to let me talk to her."

"Sorry buddy," the offier said as he hoisted Edward to his feet. "We're taking a little trip."

Edward choked on the sobs as he let the tears fall without shame. He should have been there with Bella. She shouldn't have been moving across the country without him, and now she would never know. She wouldn't ever believe that he tried to stop her, that he tried to get to her, that he loved her.

The officer escorted him out of the building and pushed him into the car gently, because he had stopped struggling. She was gone, and it was all his fault.

* * *

Chief Swan looked in on the father of his granddaughter sitting in the dingy cell with his head in his hands. This wasn't the Edward that he knew. The Edward that he knew would never do something so spontaneous, so ill thought out, something that would break any sort of rule. The boy had never run a stop light in his life as far as the chief could tell. And yet here he was, in jail, for what could have been considered terroristic-like actions. But the chief knew better.

He knocked on the bars, "You get one phone call son. Call someone to bail you out."

Edward looked up at the man who should have been his father-in-law. "She's gone," he whispered dejectedly.

Charlie shrugged, he hated that his daughter was gone, but maybe it was for the best. Surely the relationship that these two had couldn't be healthy. They were two people desperately in love, he could see it, and yet neither of them could get their shit together and admit it. "You couldn't really expect her to hang around forever, could you? She needed to get on with her life, take care of Renesme."

Edward scowled at the chief, "And you're saying that the best way to do that is to take the woman I love and my daughter away from me?"

The chief closed his eyes, "There's not much I can tell you, Edward. Bella's stubborn, I'm not sure that even you could change her mind now."

"No," Edward stood up, grabbing at his last possible hope, "but I can try. You said I get one phone call, right?"

The chief chuckled, he should have known better than to believe Edward out of hope when it came to his daughter. He'd been pining after her since she was in high school and he'd been in college. "Yeah, you get one. Are you sure you want to use it on that. She's probably turned her phone off by now to get on the flight."

Edward shook his head, "Then I'll leave a message. I'd rather spend a few nights in jail than not telling Bella that I loved her."

Charlie unlocked the cell and led Edward to the payphone and gave him two quarters where the inmates only got one. Edward looked up at the chief in confusion. He just patted him on the back. Charlie could never say it out loud, but he was proud of Edward. He didn't like the idea of his daughter being with anyone, but if it had to be somebody, Edward would love her and take care of her. Even if that meant doing something that would get him thrown in jail. There were very few men who loved their wives that much, but Charlie knew that Edward would love his daughter for the rest of his life, and maybe beyond, if there was such a thing.

After Charlie left him alone with his last hope, Edward placed in the first quarter and dialed the number that he had more than memorized. The phone rang five times before jumping to the voice mail. Edward hit his fist against the wall. Why wasn't she answering?

When he heard the beep he poured his heart onto her machine. "Bella, please, don't leave me baby. I know I screwed up, but you have to know that I love you. I love you and I love Renesme, and I love our family, as dysfunctional as it is. I need you. If that means that we move out to Washington to be together, I'll do it. I'd do anything for you, Bella."

Edward sighed, leaning his head against the cold metal. "You are my life. I should have told you that everyday since the day that you let me into your life. You are everything to me, and you gave me the most beautiful gift in the world and I wasn't smart enough to accept it. Please, baby…"

_Your time has expired. Please enter another quarter._

"Hold on baby," Edward placed the quarter in the slot and chuckled, "You will never believe where I am." Edward scratched the back of his head sheepishly as if Bella could see him. "I'm kind of in jail. I wanted to tell you all of this in person, and I kind of jumped security in hopes of getting to you. It didn't work, so I'm kind of stuck here until someone comes to bail me out, and who knows how long that could be. I used my one phone call for you, because you are so much more important than getting out of here."

Time was almost up and Edward was frustrated, there was no way that he could tell Bella everything that he wanted to. "I have to go. I love you, and I wish that there was something we could do to work this out, because I'll never be whole without you, Bella. You are my other half, my lobster, my soul mate, if you believe in kooky things like that."

_Your time has expired. Please enter another quarter._

Edward growled at the machine. "I love you, Bella. I know my words might be too little too late but…." The line went dead and Edward slammed the receiver back down on the hook.

"Not good I'm taking," the chief's voice was close behind him.

"She didn't pick up, and I ran out of time." His shoulders slumped as he turned to look at Bella's father. "Thank you, sir. I know you've never much liked me, but I appreciate you giving me the chance to try."

Charlie harrumphed uncomfortably before shoeing Edward back into the cell. He wasn't good with emotions.

After watching the chief walk away, Edward slumped onto the cot and settled in for a long night. There wasn't a chance in hell that he was going to make it out of here before the sun rose again. He just hoped that Bella would take pity on him and call his family when she got to Washington.

* * *

Bella's phone beeped at her alerting her to a new voice message as she descended the gateway. That was strange, she hadn't even heard the phone ring. After settling into her seat, she lifted the phone to her ear and played the message back. As the velvet voice, rough with emotion floated through the air, tears filled her eyes.

"He loves me," she whispered softly placing her hand over her lips. She didn't think it was possible. She thought that he was through with her, and that he was telling her to move on.

She gasped and stood up immediately when he told her where he was, hitting her head against the short ceiling. She snapped her phone shut and began to make her way to the front of the plane.

She made it to the front in time to see the jetway being moved away. "NO!" She nearly jumped off the plane in hopes of catching it before it got away, but a flight attendant caught her around the middle and prevent her from jumping out of the plane.

"Miss," the breathless flight attendant said. "What in the world are you doing?"

"I need to get out of here. The man that I love is in jail, and I need to get him out." Tears were streaming down her face as she tried to turn toward the door again. If the jetway wasn't there anymore, than she was just going to have to drop to the ground. It was a long way down, but she needed to get to Edward. There wasn't another choice.

"Miss, the plane is about to take off. You should take your seat and you can call someone when we get to Seattle." The flight attendant was trying to be kind, but he was beginning to worry about the sanity of the woman in front of him.

"No, I can't," she shook her head vehemently, "Please, you have to let me off the plane. I need to get to him."

The flight attendant sighed and looked around for help.

* * *

It had been a little more than an hour since the phone call had been made. Chief Swan had come in once to bid Edward goodnight because his shift had ended. He had really taken pity on the young man and thrown him an extra pillow in hopes that his neck wouldn't be in too much pain. He was a doctor after all, and when he made bail, he'd probably be called into work.

Edward had just gotten as comfortable as was possible on the little cot when there was a commotion by the door. There were a few rough voices of the officers and then the most beautiful thing that he had ever heard.

Jumping out of the bed, Edward ran to the bars and tried to lean into them as far as he could to see around the corner in hopes of seeing the one person that he never truly thought would come for him. The first sign he saw of her was her frazzled mahogany hair. She had her cell phone clutched between her ear and her shoulder as she flipped through the keys in her hand. "Dad, they all look big and old. Just tell me which one it is so I can get him out of here."

Edward's heart leapt as he realized that she was really here. She'd gotten his message and come for him.

"Dad," Bella said in exasperation without looking up from the keys jangling in her hand. "Please, something descriptive, I don't want to have to try each key."

The chief must have finally given her answer because she finally lifted one key and smiled. "Thanks, Daddy."

Bella closed the phone and finally looked up at the man that she loved. Her heart melted at what she saw. There behind the bars, Edward stood, with the most adoring expression that she'd ever seen on any face that she'd ever happened upon. He looked so disheveled, so lovable, so handsome, so Edward.

Without thinking, Bella dropped the keys and ran for him. She grasped his face through the bars and pressed her lips to his with as much pressure that she could exert.

When she finally pulled back, there were tears in both of their eyes. "Did you mean what you said?"

Edward would have nodded, but his face was pressed so closely to the bars that he couldn't even begin to move. "God, yes. Bella, I love you so much. I will do anything to keep you around. Please don't leave me. Please don't take my daughter from me. Please don't kill us before we really have a chance to start."

Bella's breath caught in her throat as she watched Edward's emerald eyes, so pure, so determined, telling her that everything that he said was the truth. She pressed herself to the bars again and pushed her face closer to his. When their mouths were just barely touching, she breathed, "I love you, I love you, I love you," before opening her mouth over his to give him a more passionate kiss.

Edward responded in full, his arms shot out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her against the bars so hard, that they would be imprinted into her skin, but at the moment, neither of them cared. They just needed to be close, and not even these bars were going to get in the way.

There was throat cleared not far behind them. Bella pulled back to look behind her, not making any further move away from Edward. And officer stood uncomfortably shifting from foot to foot. "Miss Bella, I let you take the keys because Chief Swan told me to. That doesn't give you the right to be fornicating with the prisoners."

Bella extracted herself from Edward embrace so that she could retrieve the keys that had been long forgotten. "He's not a prisoner. He made bail," Bella said simply before finding the key and releasing Edward.

Edward was barely out of the cell before they were embracing again. They couldn't get close enough to the other fast enough. The officer looked between them, "Whatever, if you've posted bail for him, then go ahead and go home. The chief may be your father, but you're really not authorized to be back here."

Bella once again extracted herself from Edward's grasp unwillingly. She didn't ever want to be somewhere that his arms couldn't be around her ever again. She'd been without them for far too long. "We're going, we're going. Don't be so uptight. I spent half my childhood back here.

The officer looked appalled by the idea. He couldn't imagine a little girl running around the cells with all the dangerous prisoners. Especially a girl who was as beautiful as he knew that little Miss Bella would have been. There was no way that she wouldn't have been a beautiful little girl. With her rosy red cheeks, chocolate brown eyes, and adorable mahogany curls.

Edward didn't have to be a mind reader to know what was going on in the officer's head. It was plainly written in his dazed eyes. As much as he wanted to leave his mark on the woman in between them, he knew that it would be pointless. Men were always looking at her like she was the sun, and they had been in the dark all of their lives. Of course, she was, and they had been. But she was his sun, and no one else was ever going to have her.

Edward was barely able to hold himself together as they drove back to his apartment. Hers had been sold, along with her car because the company was getting her a hybrid for Washington. Anything that hadn't been sold, her father was taking care of.

He wanted nothing more than to pull over his car, which somehow Bella had been able to save from the pound as she'd run out of the airport, and take her right on the side of the road. But he didn't want to deal with the police again today. He needed to get her home, and into his bed.

Bella placed her hand on his on the gear shift. She was trying to soothe his frustration, which she could feel as it was heavy in the air. But all her physical contact succeeded in doing was increasing his need for her. "I love you," Edward said suddenly, nothing else able to escape his lips. "I love you so much, Bella. I'm more thankful than you will ever know that you gave me a second chance. I will never take you for granted. I will put in my notice at the hospital tomorrow and I will get a job in Washington. I want to be with you and Nessie forever."

Bella laid her hand on his lips, palm pressing hard enough so that he actually stopped babbling. "Are you sure that's what you want, Edward? You love your job at the hospital."

Edward kissed her palm and she moved it out of the way so that he could speak. "I'm not going to be without you again, Bella. I've made too many mistakes, and I know I'll make more, but I'm not making this one again. This one has nearly killed me. I'm going to be with you."

"That's not what I meant, Edward." Bella took a deep breath. "I could just not accept the job. Mom could come back with Rennesme and then I could just stay at the same position that I'm in now. I don't need to move."

"Yes, you do," Edward said sternly. "Bella, you have worked harder than anyone I know to be in the position that you are today, and you are getting an amazing opportunity. Not only are you going to be getting better pay, you are also getting a new home, with a beautiful backyard for a beautiful little girl to grow up in. You can't give up something like that. I won't let you. And I'm going with you."

Bella sighed. She was more in love with this man then she had ever been in her life, and that was an amazing thing. She'd been head over heels in love with him for nearly ten years now. "Marry me, Edward."

Edward was so thankful that he'd just pulled into his spot in the parking garage, because there was no telling how he would have reacted if he'd still been on the road. "Did you just….?"

Bella's eyes were wide as she realized what had just happened. She'd never put herself out there like this before. She nodded.

Edward revved back up the engine and began to back out of his spot. Bella looked around frantically, "Edward, where are we going?"

"Courthouse," Edward said simply as he shifted gears. "I'm not giving you the chance to change your mind."

Bella giggled as they sped down the road.

* * *

With Bella in his arms, Edward pushed the door open to their bedroom. Bella had convinced him out of getting married by the justice of the peace, but only because she had reminded him that his sister would have killed them both if they had done something like that. They'd been able to get her to pull together a wedding in only a few weeks, and here they were, in their new home, in Washington. They'd shut off all their phones, with the exception of the baby monitor, and were now alone for the first time as the Cullen family.

"I can't believe that you are finally my wife," Edward said as he kissed her nose before placing her on her feet at the edge of the bed. "I was so afraid that this day would never come."

"I love you," Bella said as she pulled Edward down so that she could kiss him properly. "There are not words to describe how happy I am that you called me that day. I was convinced that you didn't want me anymore."

Cupping her face gently, Edward stared deeply into the chocolate brown eyes that he'd feared were lost to him forever. "How could I not want you? You are my everything." Words were not enough. There was nothing in any written or spoken language that could describe what he felt for her.

So Edward tried to show her. Gently, he took her hands and gently tugged her until his knees hit the bed. He sank down so that his eyes were level with the bodice of her beautiful white dress. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Edward pulled her toward him and rested his head against her stomach. "I love you," he breathed gently. "I love you so much."

Bella ran her fingers through his hair, loving the tenderness that he showed her. "I love you too, Edward."

Heart stuttering, Edward pulled back and gently turned Bella so that he could see the line of satin covered buttons that covered the length of her spine. Slow, dexterous fingers, trained in surgery and piano quickly had the buttons undone. As skin was revealed, Edward couldn't resist the temptation of leaning in and placing butterfly light kisses.

Bella shivered, not sure which part of her body he was affecting more. Her heart seemed to flutter faster than a hummingbird's wing while her lower bits began to flutter in their own ways.

"Edward," Bella groaned as he reached the last button and drew the skin at the base of her spine into his mouth, suckling greedily, marking her.

Not removing the dress, Edward working his hands between the material and Bella's skin, wrapping his hands around her waist. Moving his hands up slowly, he brushed the underside of her breasts, causing her to gasp. The difference in texture was more than she could take.

Edward smiled, feeling Bella squirm beneath his hands and mouth. Slowly, almost unwillingly, Edward pulled his hands away, removed his hands and stood up. He brushed the material from Bella's shoulders, and watched as the material fell away, leaving her in absolutely nothing. "So beautiful," he whispered.

Bella turned, and looked up into the eyes of her husband. The deep green scorched her. With hands, nowhere near as steady as his, she reached out and removed his shirt. Edward watched, wishing to rip off his own cloths so that there would be one less layer between them, but he was stunned motionless by the adoration in her eyes. Leaning in, Bella pressed her lips into Edward's chest, just above her rapidly beating heart. As she felt the tempo beneath her lips, she reached down and unbuttoned his pants, her patience nearly gone.

Completely bare to each other, Bella and Edward sank down onto the bed together. Bella straddled Edward's lap, wanting to get as close to him as possible. Edward grasped her hips desperately, needing to feel her, to know that this moment was truly happening. They came together, becoming one, and stayed that way. Edward held Bella to him tightly, looking into her eyes. "I can't believe this is real."

"So real," Bella whispered. "So real, so incredible, so perfect." She leaned in and took his lips, connecting them in everyway possible.

Slow and torturous and then rough and quick, they brought each other to release, watching the way the pleasure rippled across each of their faces, feeling the way that their bodies reacted to the other. And when they could take it no more, they collapsed, sweaty and breathless, in each other's arms.

A crackling cry came from the baby monitor, jolting the exhausted couple from near sleep. "Are you awake?" Bella yawned into Edward's chest.

Edward chuckled and rolled Bella out of his arms. He kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back."

Edward made his way across the house to the nursery. Glancing down into the crib, a smile spread across his face. "Hey, baby girl," he whispered as he reached down to remove Nessie from the crib. "Do you want to go see Mommy?"

Renesme whimpered her answer and Edward rocked her gently, trying to quiet her meek cries as he made his way back to the bedroom, where Bella had already dragged herself up to rest against the headboard. Edward's smile widened as he placed their six month old little girl into her Mommy's arms. They had started to ween Nessie, but there was nothing more beautiful than watching his wife nurse their daughter.

Reentering the warmth of the covers, Edward wrapped himself around Bella, looking down and watching Nessie as she nursed. "Thank you," he whispered.

Bella glanced away from her daughter's droopy eyes up into the teary eyes of her husband. Her breath caught in her throat, and all she could do was lean forward and press her lips to his.

With Renesme fed and burped, Edward placed her gently on his chest, where she nestled up and fell asleep. "She's beautiful," Edward smiled as Bella placed her head gently next to their daughter's, "Just like her mama."

Bella smiled, blushing and wrapping her arms more tightly around Edward's waist. After all the stops and goes, after all the problems, they were finally together, she finally had her Edward.

* * *

AN: The relationship for this Edward and Bella is based very loosely off the last episode of "Friends" with Rachel and Ross. 'my lobster' is also based off of friends. Phoebe says that lobsters mate for life and that's what Ross and Rachel are.


End file.
